Moscow Confirms Effective Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile
The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, as reported by the country's top military official.
"We have launched a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official the general informed the Russian leader in a televised meeting.
The terrain-hugging prototype missile, initially revealed in 2018, has been described as having a possible global reach and the capacity to evade missile defences.
Western experts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having effectively trialed it.
The national leader stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been held in the previous year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had limited accomplishment since several years ago, according to an arms control campaign group.
The military leader reported the projectile was in the sky for 15 hours during the evaluation on October 21.
He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were found to be meeting requirements, based on a domestic media outlet.
"As a result, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet quoted the official as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in recent years.
A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a singular system with worldwide reach potential."
However, as an international strategic institute observed the identical period, Russia faces major obstacles in achieving operational status.
"Its entry into the state's stockpile potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," experts noted.
"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident resulting in a number of casualties."
A defence publication cited in the study claims the weapon has a flight distance of between a substantial span, permitting "the missile to be stationed throughout the nation and still be capable to reach objectives in the continental US."
The same journal also explains the missile can fly as low as 164 to 328 feet above ground, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to stop.
The missile, referred to as a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is considered driven by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to activate after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the sky.
An examination by a news agency last year identified a site a considerable distance above the capital as the probable deployment area of the missile.
Using orbital photographs from August 2024, an specialist told the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.
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